


The Perfect Pie

by sunflowervitamin



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Fluff, M/M, Romance, prompto just wants to make ignis happy, slight angst, spoilers past ch 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-23
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-19 09:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9432596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowervitamin/pseuds/sunflowervitamin
Summary: Ignis is having a rough time coping with his injuries. Prompto wants to help cheer him up. Also, pies.





	

**Author's Note:**

> yo, so most important thing i can really say: i haven't written a fic since...2013 i think? yeah. and i've definitely never written a fic with this many emotions so go easy on me. constructive criticisms or advice are definitely more than welcome! i have no idea what i'm doing but i just had to write this once i got the idea in my head ;;

Ignis found it to be a cruel strike of irony that all the times he ever worried over ruining his glasses or losing a spare didn't really matter now. That all the times he ever fussed over his hair or wrinkles in his shirt would be something he'd never experience again. The injuries were something he easily adjusted to; it was coping with losing everything else that was incredibly difficult, especially in light of his recent relationship with a certain small, freckled man. Not being able to see a sunset or the waves of Galdin Quay ever again did hurt, but not as much as it hurt knowing he'd never see Prompto's eyes gleam in excitement, or be able to see shapes within his freckles. Indeed, this was probably the part that hurt the very most.

But he recently realized he'd also lost something else that was close to him: his love for cooking. By the Gods, he had tried, but it seemed even finding his way around a microwave was almost impossible by itself, let alone actual cooking. He liked the stress relief and creativity cooking allowed him to find, and now that too was also gone. Ignis had also recently got into watching cooking shows with Prompto, something he didn't expect him to have the patience to watch. But Prompto actually grew excited with every coming episode. It was a period of bonding time for them, time they could spend virtually alone, within each others arms and exchanging banter over the cook's mishaps.

He could feel Prompto's warm hand over his as they both casually lay in the hotel bed together, legs entangled under the thin sheets. Even if he couldn't see Prompto linking their fingers together, it was comforting to at least be able to feel it. Prompto was fidgeting a bit; it was obvious the complete and utter silence was getting to him. It was hard for him to know what to say lately.

“So,” Prompto began, “Would you want to um, maybe...watch some TV? I mean um, listen to it. We could listen to it together. If you want, I mean!”

Despite the circumstances of the past few weeks, Ignis couldn't help but give a small smile. Prompto was always trying to be considerate of him, and it made his heart swell.

“I suppose we could turn on a show, for an hour or two,” Ignis said. He sighed. “But you know I cannot enjoy it with you like we used to, correct?”

Prompto nodded, then realized Ignis couldn't see him nodding. “Y-Yeah! Of course. It's okay that you can't, I just thought it would be a nice...distraction, y'know?”

Ignis supposed that was as good a reason as any, and nodded his confirmation to Prompto, who turned on the TV and began flitting through all the various channels until he found a show that piqued his interest. A cooking show! And one of the competitive ones, at that. Surely all the arguing and banter in the show would be a sufficient distraction for Ignis, or at the very least would make the room feel a little less lonely. He had turned to the show in the middle of the episode, but he decided to keep it on anyway. However, this particular episode was devoid of contestants throwing quips at one another; they both noticed quickly it was actually intense and emotional.

The challenge at handing was baking pies. No matter how much Ignis tried to teach Prompto baking, pies always alluded him. The contestants made it look so easy, but he knew it wasn't as simple as cooking shows made it appear. His eyes scanned across the contestants until he saw something odd. Prompto noticed a female contestant who had an assistant. 

He made a displeased noise. “Ignis, this one woman has someone helping her. Isn't that, like, cheating or something?”

Ignis frowned, “Technically, yes, it would be. I wonder why she has someone assisting her?”

Prompto shrugged, and Ignis could feel the movement on the bed. “I guess we'll find out!”

The woman was struggling with her baking, not out of lack of skill, however. Prompto noticed something was wrong. Her vision wasn't very focused, and she had a cane. It seemed like the assistant was helping her in finding baking tools and setting the oven for her, but otherwise the contestant did practically everything else alone. She used her hands to help her find certain ingredients, or to find her way around the kitchen. Prompto covered his mouth as he gasped once he realized why she was behaving so oddly.

“Iggy, that woman I told you about earlier? I think she...I think she might be blind. Or she can't see very well.”

Ignis automatically perked up after hearing that. A blind cooking contestant? No, there was no way. There was absolutely no way she could get her way around a kitchen and be blind. She had to be pretending, for the ratings or some such other nonsense. There was no way. He didn't respond to Prompto, mostly because he didn't want to get his hopes up. But every time he heard her voice (Prompto alerted him to which voice was hers early on), he couldn't help but feel hopeful.

The episode finally progresses to the most nerve-wracking part: the taste test. So far between the contestants, it's been a mixed bag. Some did very well, and some did terribly. There was really no telling how it was truly going to turn out. Until the same blind contestant was helped to the front with her assistant, her pie in hand. Ignis had watched cooking shows for years, but hearing this moment made him almost shake with the anxiety. How well could a blind cook really do? Would she really make it to the next round? Or would she go home? Prompto wasn't faring much better. He'd nervously begun to pick at the skin around his nails and Ignis could tell by the sound alone.

Ignis grabbed one of Prompto's hands to prevent him from his nervous tic, and brought the hand to his mouth to kiss it. “Don't hurt yourself, love.” 

Prompto blushed at the expression of affection from Ignis; no matter how often things like this happened, he couldn't quite get over the excitement or prevent the blushing in his face. “R-Right, of course!”

Their focus returned to the task at hand. The judge frowned at the contestant, asking her why she had been so flustered? Why had she gotten the pie in the oven so late? What was going on?

Ignis could hear her sigh, “There's no excuse, chef. I'm not experienced with pies and I got nervous, but it's no excuse.” Ignis found he really liked this girl; she owned up to her mistakes, something many people couldn't do.

“What do you think your pie looks like?” the judge asked, “I want to know.”

She looked nervous but kept an even tone as she spoke. “Probably awful. It probably looks terrible.” Her description made Ignis incredibly nervous. He had so much hope for her. Had she really done so badly?

A moment of silence passed before the judge responded, “Visually, it looks amazing. The color is perfect. The sugar has glazed the pastry at the top. It's cooked all the way through. It looks incredible. So I'm asking you, please stop doubting yourself.”

Oh, here comes the tears. Not just from the contestant, but from Ignis as well. He couldn't believe he was getting this emotional over a pie, of all things. Prompto wasn't doing much better; he was loudly sniffling at this point. He had nothing to say, which was a rarity for Prompto.

The judge cut through the pie, and the sound of the knife cutting through the top of the crust was loud and clear. Even contestants from across the room could hear it. “What does this sound like to you? It sounds like the pie is crusty, right?”

The contestant, with tears in her eyes and a slight sniffle, nodded. “Yes, chef. It sounds good and crusty.”

Then, the judge wiggled the slice onto a wide spatula, holding it up for everyone to see. “It's intact, right in front of your very eyes. And it looks amazing.” What the judge said next made Ignis finally cry, “Stop being upset at yourself, please. You have got to start believing in yourself. Okay?”

Ignis couldn't help it. He began to sob. He hadn't really cried since the injuries happened, mostly because it hurt to do so for a while. But he truly couldn't help it. As ridiculous as it sounded, he felt like the chef wasn't just speaking to the woman on TV, but to him as well. It struck a chord with him. He couldn't really hear what happened next; he was too overwhelmed with the thought of knowing that he could do this. If she could, he certainly could.

His beloved boyfriend wrapped his arms around him to try to sooth his shaking shoulders, and kissed his temple. Prompto gently rubbed Ignis' back to comfort him. “Hey, hey Iggy. It's okay. She did good, and I bet one day soon you will, too.”

Ignis didn't believe Prompto the first few times after the injuries, when he said Ignis could do this. When he said Ignis could make it, could find some semblance of normalcy again. But for the first time in weeks, he truly, honestly, believed he could. He could do this.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is actually based on a real chef named christine ha, who competed in season 3 of masterchef. she was the first blind chef to ever compete on the show and not only did she do well in the pie challenge i based this on, but (spoilers) she won that season. i couldn't stop thinking about that episode when i thought of ignis. if you haven't seen that emotional episode yourself please do! it's a joy to see her cook. anyway, i hope you enjoyed it and as i said before, i do appreciate any advice and comments seeing as i really don't know what i'm doing


End file.
